On Jan. 29, following a three-month trial and three weeks of deliberations, the jury in In re Vivendi Universal found Vivendi liable for federal securities Rule 10b-5 violations based on 57 material misstatements by the company. Damages for the class could exceed $9 billion.
The jury absolved the company’s former CEO, Jean-Marie Messier, and former CFO, Guillaume Hannezo, of liability. Former securities litigator Adam Savett of RiskMetrics Group wrote on the company’s Web site in January that the Vivendi case was only the ninth securities class action lawsuit tried to a verdict since passage of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act in 1995 based on post-PSLRA conduct. Most securities litigation cases are settled or dismissed. Vivendi has vowed to appeal.
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